Miwa
by TMNT-Queen
Summary: What if Tang Shen hadn't died that night, and she and Yoshi moved to New York together? What if they raised the turtles as their own children? And what if, one day, the couple realized that Miwa hadn't really died in the fire? Story belongs to retro mania; Originally written by MelinaEugenia. TMNT AU.
1. Chapter One: The Beginning and the End

_Hey, guys! Queen here._

 _This story belongs to retro mania. He asked me to continue writing it where MelinaEugenia left off. So here it is. This takes place in an alternate universe (obviously)._

 _Okay, I'm done talking now._

 _BLANKET DISCLAIMER: I don't own the turtles or their allies. Shard is the property of retro mania, and Tang Shen, Splinter, the turtles, etc. are properties of Nickelodeon and Viacom._

 **Chapter One: The Beginning and the End**

Tang Shen stood behind Hamato Yoshi, her husband, and stared at the man she used to love. Oroku Saki was not the same man he was years ago. He had turned cruel, bloodthirsty, and become focused solely on revenge.

"I do not wish to fight you, brother," Yoshi said, his voice quiet but dangerous.

"But I do," Saki snarled, approaching the ninja master with his blades drawn and glittering.

Yoshi's expression darkened and he turned to his wife. "Go inside and watch over Miwa."

"But-"

"Go," he repeated.

Every fiber of her being screamed at Shen to stay with her husband, but she did as he commanded, leaving the two adopted brothers alone. On the way into the house, Shen prayed that nothing would happen to her husband. Their daughter, Miwa, was turning six in a few weeks. They had been planning the birthday celebration for a while; they were doing just that when Oroku Saki appeared outside, his eyes blazing with hate.

A feeling of dread settled in Shen's stomach and she sat next to Miwa's bed, continuing to pray. But deep inside, she knew something horrible was about to happen. _Please, keep Yoshi safe,_ she begged silently. No sooner were the words whispered than the clang of metal on metal sounded. The air filled with enraged shouts and curses.

Miwa jerked awake, whimpering. The battle raging outside woke her up, causing tears to fill her amber eyes. Shen put her arms around her daughter and pulled her close, trying to keep her still and calm, but it was no use. The five-year-old struggled in her mother's arms, not able to understand why she wasn't allowed to leave the room.

Then they heard it. A man's scream – _Yoshi's_ scream – and a loud thud.

Shen couldn't wait any longer. She let go of Miwa and bolted towards the area that the horrifying noises had come from. The sight of her husband lying on the dojo floor made ice shoot through Shen's veins, but it was the sight of the man responsible for it that made her heart stop.

"Saki, don't!" she screamed as he stalked towards her husband, his gauntlet raised.

Saki heard her but he didn't listen. All he had on his mind was to get rid of the man that took Tang Shen from him. Shen grabbed his arm, trying to stop him.

Just for a moment, the hatred in Saki's eyes flickered and disappeared. He stared at her, at the tears on her cheeks. Wearily, painfully, Yoshi stood from the floor and raised his fists in a block.

"Please," Shen whispered.

Saki's eye twitched. Without warning, he flung her into the wall. She hit it hard and slid down, then lay gasping on the floor, realizing that her attempt to stop the fight has failed.

The leader of the Foot Clan snarled and lunged at Yoshi, but he never hit the target. The sight of Shen, the knowledge of her presence was making him weak and Yoshi strong. Inexplicably, Shen had turned the battle against him.

The anger grew deep and dark inside Saki's heart and he backflipped away from Yoshi, switching his focus to the woman he hated and loved so much. If he could not have her, _no one_ would. With a roar, he charged towards her, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. But his wild swing missed and hit the nearby candles instead, knocking them to the floor and starting a blaze inside the room.

Then the dojo door slid open and a small face poked through. The battle was too loud for Miwa not to hear, and when she saw the carnage inside the dojo, she screamed. She screamed for her mother, her father, but no one could hear her over the roar of the flames and the creaking of the old wooden dojo.

With a vibration that shook the entire building, the ceiling gave way and pinned Shen to the floor. Yoshi rushed over, trying to free his wife. Saki let out a cry of pain as he, too, was knocked to the ground and hit in the face with burning debris. A stray beam fell towards Miwa, knocking her hard in the back of the head. She collapsed, not quite unconscious, when the silhouette of a man approached her and picked her up. Believing herself to be in her father's arms, Miwa closed her eyes, giving up the fight to stay awake as they left the burning building and disappeared into the night.

Yoshi finally managed to free Shen, and he carried her outside, far away from the danger zone. The woman lay in his arms, firelight reflecting in her tears as she stared at the burning building. She knew it. Miwa was gone, killed in the flames by the hand of Oroku Saki.

Yoshi glanced at his wife's face and then he, too, realized. Anguish filled his heart and his chest heaved. With a loud scream, he broke down and sobbed.

Everything they had...it was all gone. Their home, their daughter, everything. He knew by the empty look in her eyes that Shen was thinking it as well. Miwa was gone, and therefore so was her reason for living. Even if she had another child, another daughter, it wouldn't be the same. It would never be the same.

Miles away from the broken couple, Oroku Saki limped along, the unconscious five-year-old still cradled in his arms. She was still unconscious, and he was getting worried. But he couldn't take her to a doctor. What about all the questions that would arise? What if they would call the police and take her away?

No. He couldn't risk it. He couldn't lose her again. Not that way. He knew it wasn't her...but it was her. _Tang Shen..._

"I will protect you," Saki whispered, tracing a hand across the child's brow. "...My daughter."

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	2. Chapter Two: A Reason to Smile

**Chapter Two: A Reason to Smile**

Yoshi had thought of everything. He booked tickets just in time, making sure to get the right plane. The apartment he bought was perfect, just for the two of them, in the city that Shen had always wanted to go and see.

New York City.

Shen had dreamed of taking Miwa and walking around the city, touring and sightseeing. But the dream had vanished with their daughter's tragic and unexpected passing, leaving nothing but a fog of numbness in its wake – a numbness that had since consumed Shen.

Her husband knew that he had to do something, anything, to save her from slipping into an eternal state of grief and depression. And so, he brought her to New York City, took her away from the place where everything reminded her of their precious little girl. Shen's face lit up in a small smile when she learned where they were going. But Yoshi could still see it, sense it. The pain was still there; the emptiness remained – an emptiness only felt by a mother who had lost the child she had carried and cared for. _Your children are not meant to die before you do,_ Yoshi thought sadly as they boarded the plane and left the ruins of their old life behind.

Finally, the couple arrived in the big city. At the airport, Shen held tightly to Yoshi's arm, as if she was afraid she would lose _him_ as well. The ninja master gave her a warm, reassuring smile and placed a kiss on her forehead, letting her know with the small gesture that he would never leave her side. He kept an arm around his wife as they made their way to their new home.

Shen did everything she could to smile as she explored the apartment – everything she could to make Yoshi believe that she was happy again. But he knew that the smile was false; he had been with her far too long to think otherwise. So he took her for a walk in Central Park, a place he'd read about when he had researched the many areas of New York.

Yoshi had thought of everything. Or so he believed. But he was still human and humans made mistakes. Mistakes such as forgetting about the children and parents playing in the park. He sensed a certain pain within his wife when she took in the children, the little girls running around shrieking with laughter.

 _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,_ Yoshi thought, biting his lip. "Shen, I did not think about the children. We can go if-"

"No, Yoshi," she replied, her voice small. But there was a smile in there somewhere, behind the layers of hurt and longing. "It is beautiful. I want...I want to stay."

Under the dense fog of loss, Shen knew that her husband was doing all he could to make her happy again. But still, she wasn't. She used to be, when she had another life to live for, when she had someone to take care of that couldn't do so themselves.

The couple remained on the bench for a long while, talking a little about the differences between Japan and America. But in the end, there was a silence that settled on them. Yoshi wracked his brain to come up with something, anything, to make her smile – if only once more. She had been smiling, yes, but not because she wanted to. It was because she felt she had to. And that was not what he wanted for her.

A few days later, Yoshi knew she was still unhappy. She didn't smile and barely spoke a word. Yoshi kissed her on the forehead frequently, but she didn't respond to it anymore. She had become depressed. And Yoshi didn't like it one bit.

"Let's go for a walk," he suggested.

Shen didn't protest, following him with a glassy look in her eyes. She felt she had no reason to stay alive anymore. That was exactly why he brought her to New York; to bring back some of her spark. An idea had been building in Yoshi's mind all week and he was going to put it into action.

When they arrived at the rescue shelter, Shen stared at the building. "Do you want to go in?" Yoshi asked quietly.

Shen nodded, entering the shelter as if in a trance. And the longer she was in there, staring at the rescue pets, the more her eyes began to shine. Just as Yoshi had hoped, there was some life rising in her soul. He would help her save a life. He would give her a new life to live for.

The ninja watched her as she walked past all the cages with tiny animals in need of helping hands. She picked up a black and white cat, holding it in her arms as she stroked it on the head. But after realizing that the feline wasn't fond of her husband, she put it back and wandered off in search of another. Yoshi was alone, staring at the cages of animals. A brown rat wandered over to the bars and squeaked at him, making him raise a brow.

After a while, the shelter door opened and a young boy entered, tears sparkling in his eyes. "Excuse me, sir," the boy said to one of the shelter employees.

"Hey there. What can I do for you?" the employee responded.

"I can't...I can't take care of my pet turtles anymore," the boy said, sniffling as he held up a cardboard box. "We're moving away. C-Can you find a home for them?"

"Of course." The employee took the box and gazed at the four small turtles. "What are their names?"

"They don't have any," a woman, presumably the boy's mother, said in a cold, hard voice. A voice that caught Shen's attention. "They're just four male turtles with no names."

Shen walked over slowly, not interrupting the conversation. She glanced at her husband, who seemed to realize what she was thinking and nodded. Before the boy and his mother left the shelter, Shen placed a hand on the child's shoulder. He looked up with confusion in his eyes.

"Don't worry," she told him in the same warm voice she used to talk to Miwa. "I'll look after them for you." The boy dried his tears and smiled at her, his lip still quivering a little. Shen gave him a quick hug and stood up, heading over to the employee and the mother. "I'll take them," she said.

At that, the mother walked out the door, not seeming to care. Yoshi sighed and scratched the brown rat's chin as Shen approached him with the box of turtles. "Are you sure?" he asked. Shen nodded and he shrugged a little as he went to pay for the reptiles. If that's what Shen wanted, that's what she would get. He smiled at his wife as they left the shelter.

Shen was so focused on the little turtles in her arms that she didn't notice the man in the suit blocking her way. She grunted as she collided with him. He turned, giving her a sharp reprimand as he walked away. Yoshi called after him, frowning, but the man didn't respond. In a bit of anger, Yoshi began to chase the man.

With the box in her arms, Shen was too slow, and all she could do was follow. When she reached the edge of the alleyway, she saw that her husband had caught up and grabbed the man's arm. Shen didn't notice what happened next. She was too focused on the seven other identical-looking men approaching from the end of the alley. One of the seven is carrying a container of glowing green liquid, and his eyes reflect the pulsing light as he steps closer.

"You are in a place where you are not allowed to be in this place. We have been seen in this place by you so this is not a place that will be left by you."

Icy fear surged into Shen's heart when she heard this and she turned around, needing to escape. But she ran into a wall of something hard. Her eyes widened and she gasped, dropping the box with the turtles in it. There were more men behind her now, forcing her into a corner. Shen's defensive instincts kicked in and she started fighting them, using the moves that Yoshi had taught her.

The man with the canister lost his grip and the container slipped out of his fingers, falling to the ground and breaking. Some of the green ooze splashed up onto Shen's leg and her eyes widened once more. It _burned._ The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before. She screamed, falling and starting to writhe – and accidentally knocking the box of turtles over into the liquid. Yoshi, who had managed to best his own opponents, saw what was happening and rushed over, trying to get the liquid off of his wife. But he tripped over one of the downed men and fell, landing in the green ooze as well. Pain like fire spread across his body and he, too, let out a scream.

After a long while, Shen came back to her senses. The first thing she saw was the men in suits dragging Yoshi away into a white van. Panic surged through her veins and she darted forward, once again fighting them. During the battle, Yoshi's eyes fluttered open. He realized that he was lying on the ground in the alleyway, his limbs aching. It took some time for him to understand what had happened and who the mysterious black and white cat fighting to save him was.

"Shen?" he croaked, sitting up a little.

The cat-woman finished her battle and hurried over, helping him. "It is me, Yoshi."

The man-turned-rat threw his arms around her, pulling her close. "Oh, Shen..."

A noise in the alleyway behind the pair made them jump. Yoshi was just about to attack the moving shadows when a small, green face appeared out of the darkness. Shen gasped. It was one of the turtles from the box. Only...it was bigger, the size and age of Miwa.

Shen knelt down as the turtle approached. "It is all right, little one." But when she reached towards him, he squeaked and retreated into the shadows again. She followed, finding the other three huddled with him. The four turtles stared at her, confused and frightened.

Slowly, Shen motioned her husband over and he watched the turtle children. Shen held her arms up and one of the four – presumably the oldest – stood up on his weak legs. His cobalt eyes bored into hers, inspecting her for a while before he dared to take a step towards her arms. The woman caught him as he fell, demonstrating that she wished to help and care for them. She could see it in his eyes that he understood. So he snuggled into her embrace, burying his face in her soft fur. It wasn't long before the other three walked over to her as well.

"Shen," Yoshi said, frowning. "We cannot support them. We cannot even go to our apartment. We are not human."

"There has to be a way," she replied as she looked up at him. He nearly gasped. In her eyes was pleading, burning desire...and the spark that he had sought to return to her life.

And so he found himself leading the way into the sewers, followed by Shen and the four turtles. Because they, the four reptilian children, had given Shen something she thought she had lost forever. They had given her something every human being, every creature in the world, needs in order to live and thrive.

They had given her a reason to smile.


	3. Chapter Three: A Little Progress

_A/N: Sorry it took so long to update this, guys. I know you were probably waiting for it and I apologize. My life has been kind of crazy lately. Heh._

 **Chapter Three: A Little Progress**

Deep within the sewers of New York City, hidden in an abandoned subway tunnel, Tang Shen watched the four turtles play together. Her husband was inside the room across from the children, meditating. He was still having trouble accepting the turtles as his sons.

Shen released a quiet sigh. She had tried to talk to him about the matter but there was nothing she could do. The loss of Miwa had created a great emptiness inside of him - the same emptiness that Shen herself had felt before the turtles had entered her life.

But the tots had managed to heal the darkness within her heart. Even if they could not change the past and save Miwa's life, they had given Shen a reason to smile. A reason to live.

She just wished that Yoshi could feel the same way.

Fortunately, the cat-woman had much to distract herself with. Between caring for her adopted sons and scavenging during the night, there was quite a bit to occupy her time. Shen had found many useful items when she was scavenging - just two nights ago, she found old comic books and brought them home to the turtles, thinking that they might be able to learn how to read from them.

She had also located a fabric shop on the surface. The shop housed some of the most beautiful fabric - and there was a bonus. Anything that the shop deemed "unusable" was thrown in the dumpster out back. But the things that they threw away were blessings for Shen. With the fabric, she could make clothing for herself and Yoshi. Maybe she would make kimonos for him, so he might feel a bit more at home.

That night, when it was time for Shen to go scavenging once again, Yoshi returned to the dojo. He was trying to create some doors and walls for the room in order to separate it from the rest of the "house" - and give him some peace and quiet, because the turtle tots were very loud when they wanted to be.

The mutant rat sighed as he began working on his project again. He wished to have a family, yes. But he couldn't see that happening with the turtles.

Part of him didn't want it to happen.

He shook his head and kept working. As he moved, he could feel the children watching him. Their attention soon drifted, however, and it wasn't long before two of them started to wrestle with each other. The third turtle, the one who Shen supposed was the eldest, tried in vain to separate his siblings. But the fourth ignored them all and joined Yoshi.

The ninja master stared down at the tot and raised a brow. All the turtle did in return was smile, revealing a gap between his front teeth. And then, as Yoshi watched, the turtle moved his hands across the rice paper and wood...mimicking Yoshi's own movements.

In surprise, the rat slowed his work and watched the child do his best to help build the door. When the smaller mutant noticed that Yoshi had stopped working, he looked up at him with wide brown eyes.

"Go ahead," Yoshi said quietly.

At the words, the turtle beamed and continued working. Yoshi sighed again, but he couldn't help the smile that appeared on his lips.

It continued like that every night that Shen left the turtles with her husband and went scavenging. The brown-eyed turtle with a gap in his teeth would help Yoshi build until the doors and walls were complete.

One night, the green-eyed turtle was chasing the freckled turtle and accidentally tore part of the wall. Yoshi just shook his head and began repairing the damage.

Another time, the youngest of the four interrupted his meditation session. He ran in, crying, and threw himself into Yoshi's arms. There was a certain look in his eyes - the look he got when he did something that Shen told them specifically not to do. Such as run into the dojo and disturb his meditating.

As if on cue, the cause of his wailing appeared. The green-eyed turtle darted into the room with the eldest not far on his heels. "Mom said no running in the dojo!" the eldest one called out.

His words made Yoshi freeze in place. Then, quick as a serpent, the ninja master reached out and caught the oldest turtle. He stared at him for a moment, searching his face. The turtle started to shake a little in fear, for Yoshi had never touched him before.

After a long moment, Yoshi let go of the child, instructing all three turtles to leave the dojo. His mind was spinning as they quickly exited the room.

 _"Mom said no running in the dojo!"_

The turtles saw Shen as their mother.

* * *

Early the next morning, Shen returned to their home. She brought food and some fabric with her. The turtles rushed forward, throwing their arms around her in a hug. She smiled, shaking her head and hugging them back. "Come, eat your dinner."

Once the tots were sitting and eating, Shen headed over to her husband, who sat there watching the four of them. She handed him the fabric she'd managed to find. "I thought we could make some kimonos," the cat-woman explained, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

Yoshi stared at the cloth in his hands. Two large bolts, one a maroon color and one a dark blue. There were other, smaller pieces of fabric in red, orange, royal blue, and purple. He looked up at his wife and smiled.

The couple spent the night creating kimonos for each other. Shen made her husband's with Sakura blossoms on one side, like the symbol the Hamato Clan used. Yoshi tried his best to make a beautiful kimono for her, but he had never been good at sewing - let alone making clothes from scratch. Shen just laughed a little and helped him until the kimono was finished.

As Yoshi donned his new kimono, he could feel it. His humanity and dignity was slowly returning to him.

There was a smile on his face that day.

Because finally, he was beginning to feel like himself again.


End file.
